About a two-hour drive northwest of Denver, the park was created in 1915 to protect the wildlife, sweeping vistas, snowcapped mountains, plains teeming with wildlife and the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River.

The park is home to the highest continuous paved road in the country, topping out at 12,183 feet — 2 miles above sea level. Elk are commonly seen in the park and the nearby town of Estes Park. An estimated 2,300 of them roam the valleys and mountains, often loitering near the roads and giving awestruck visitors a chance to see the massive animals up close from the safety of their cars.

Sitting in their rental car in a trailhead parking lot, Chris and Jaime Mower of Pittsburgh examined a map and discussed the wildlife they hoped to see. Jaime Mower, 34, said she hoped to see a moose. "I've already said I'd love to live here," she said.

The Mowers used an iPhone app to discover the park while visiting Denver for a work training, and hopped in their car for the two-hour drive to the park entrance. Rocky Superintendent Vaughn Baker said that the Mowers' experience is typical of park visitors, most of whom use their cars to experience the wilderness.

"We like to say we're a backyard wilderness for the whole Front Range and really the entire Midwest," Baker said. "For those people who can hike up to the high country and earn it, that's great. But the thing that sets us apart is being able to get up into that high alpine environment easily."

While the vast majority of Rocky visitors remain relatively close to their cars and paved roads, the 14,259-foot-tall Longs Peak draws thousands of hikers each year.

Much of the trail is above tree line, and hikers start before daybreak, their headlamps dotting the trail as it snakes 7.5 miles upward.

Chris Mower says he was surprised to see how quickly he and his wife could get into the wilderness without even having to get out of their car.

"It's beautiful country," he said.

Hughes also reports for the Fort Collins Coloradoan

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About the park

Size: 265,770 acres

Visitors: 3,229,617 in 2012

Established: 1915

History: For thousands of years, Native Americans used trails to cross the Continental Divide in the area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Those trails have become roads connecting east and west sides of the park along Trail Ridge Road, which is closed each year by snowfall. The road reopens around Memorial Day after weeks of work by snowplow drivers carving through 30-foot-tall drifts.

When visiting: The Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, one of several around the park, is on U.S. Route 36, 3 miles west of Estes Park, Colo.